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*(This is an allegory, which is an extended metaphor that represents concepts and ideas. Read into it whatever you will.)*

When we are young, we must be protected from the world in which we live. There are too many things that can harm a defenseless child. As we get older, our parents and those around us that love us try to give us tools and skills to be able to survive. Some of those are actual fundamental skills: walking, talking, and the like. Others are subjective skills: morals, values, judgment, etc. Still others are functional skills: social interaction, interpretation of actions, dealing with different points of view, critical thinking, etc. Because, as we all know, at some point this child is going to be old enough that they will have to be able to function in the world on their own.

How we get those children to that point is up for debate. But before they are ready, we give them some form of shelter to varying degrees as they grow up.

The ideas to get them ready are varied and diverse. The methods come from all over the place. Some believe in uniformity for learning, and others emphasize individuality. All of them have some aspects of truth and/or success. Most people have significant opinions about how it gets done. Some are so strong that arguments ensue when their beliefs are questioned. I believe these strong beliefs mean two things. One, that these people truly care about the children in these systems. Two, if one’s ideas are “wrong”, then they have been essentially not doing right by their children.

At some point, however, the sheltering needs to be pulled away. Mentally, emotionally, ideologically, spiritually, and of course physically we shelter our children until such time as the skills to survive should be in place. Otherwise, the children become ill-prepared to take on the struggles and hardships that the world inflicts upon us. As someone who works with children in various situations, I recognise when children aren’t well-prepared and are lacking skills or coping mechanisms to have success.

I was one of those kids who was well-prepared for many things, but I was sheltered in various ways, especially in dealing with the ramifications of my own actions. Also, the consequences of my life choices were headed off in many respects far past the time when they should have counted against me. With authority, I recognise when someone is given a pass on some issue in their lives. When children are young, if they don’t learn that lesson early, the lesson takes on a larger and larger consequence the older they get.

Parents love their children, so they often want to protect them from things that scare them about this world. That’s why so many home school their children. I applaud anyone taking that much of an interest in their kids’ education. It offers a parent the ability to teach the children a value structure that matches their core beliefs as a family. It’s a great crucible for some parents/teachers to be able to give their children an education and give them some of the other skills that we all desperately need in life while being to reasonably keep some issues that kids deal with far too quickly in today’s society. It’s a great shelter to have for children, one that if used correctly provides an invaluable experience for children to become who they are supposed to be.

A question: when should that shelter be pulled back so that children have to deal with a world that doesn’t necessarily treat people like homeschooling?

Different expectations, different voices, different influences. Different experiences. As someone who works with a youth group, I want each of my kids to be able to withstand, to quote Shakespeare, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that is found far too often in the real world. I want their faiths to be unshakeable, and sometimes (actually every time) to achieve that, we need to be shaken and challenged. Shakespeare says that there are two ways of dealing with hardship: accepting difficulty and toughing it out, or attempting to overcome the hardship, and solve the issue which makes life easier. I want for them to be able to say what they know to be true because they know it. I want them to know that they can figure things out on their own, without help. I want for them to overcome obstacles and to be able to meet challenges head-on.

However, we as authority figures in our kids’ lives often want to keep them from suffering anything that can be avoided. We want to protect them from things that we know hurt them.

Parent birds throw their kids out of the nest at some point, and if they don’t fly, they crash and die. That doesn’t sound like a great idea to me, but keeping the bird in the nest for the next 15 years doesn’t make sense either. People that don’t home school often see their children deal with extreme adult issues really early in their lives. It’s more like crashing and burning. If I had children of my own, I would be seriously torn about what I would want to do. Because going through life teaches us things that learning from words never can. Living is a great classroom. Experiences are great lessons, if guided by someone who cares to get the very best from their children.

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*(I don’t believe the following about everyone, it’s an observation.)*

Our churches, bible studies, youth groups, and whatnot often do the same thing. We shelter people from living life, without preparing people to deal with real consequences of faith, or the lack thereof. We can be so focused on learning that we never apply what we’re learning. Then we end up with people who aren’t prepared when the world challenges us with “whys and hows”. Just because this is how we do it, isn’t an informed answer. Or, we can be so involved in protecting ourselves from ideology and philosophy from outside our faith that we couldn’t have an intelligent discussion about what makes Christ different and significant to someone else. It creates a “we’re right and you’re wrong” adversarial mentality, and encourages people to put labels upon outside influences without actually being able to engage them as people. Funny still, is that we can become so insulated that we really don’t ever have deep contact with someone outside of our own faith or point of view. We aren’t ever challenged by the world, nor do we ever challenge with world with the truth that we have.

If we keep people from being challenged with things, and basically say to them that they don’t have to deal with difficulty or struggling, then we do them a grave disservice. Sometimes, we have to have hard questions, and struggle to find the answers. Like in education, if we constantly lower the bar and don’t challenge them to learn, they can end up impotent and ill-prepared to survive in the world. Like in dealing with faith, to not prepare people to be able to meet the world knowing what we believe but also why and how it’s relevant… we become impotent and ill-prepared to serve the world.

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The best form of shelter is the ability to withstand or adapt to anything that the world throws at you,
not be isolated from anything that the world throws at you.

Different things one can dream if given the chance

Charles Dean Burbank

I'm a recovering Christian, a recovering alcoholic, a broken and sinful survivor, a recovering brother and son, a recovering missionary, a recovering writer, and a recovering dreamer.

Yet, I've been blessed with being a teacher, a storyteller, a counselor, a theologian, a scientist, a labourer, a leader, a follower, a writer, and a dreamer.

Hopefully I won't be getting over any of these anytime soon. However, I do pray that I might be better at dealing with them and being them as I walk through this trek.

Someone once told me I was the dumbest genius they knew. Another told me that I was essentially the socket-wrench of Satan. Hopefully I'm neither, and yet somewhat both. (except for the Satan part)

If you enjoy the creative works that I will get around to inflicting upon this, please know that they are mine, and don't use them unless you ask. I would be so honoured, I think I would pass out from the mere question... The writing is mine, unless noted, and the photos may be mine or borrowed.

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One of my biggest desires is to serve God with whatever talents that I still may use. Writing seems to be one of those. But, I need direction, purpose, and development of intention. Skill or mere rote writing won't be it for me. I would cherish your prayers, suggestions, and guidance as I try to walk this new path. Cheers.